Stop Building Awareness. Start Closing Gaps.
In the world of complex IT services, most firms suffer from The Awareness Trap. They spend 90% of their budget on blogs and whitepapers that attract attention, but “go dark” when the buyer is actually ready to sign a check.
The Maze Map is a strategic blueprint designed to identify your “Content Deserts”, those high-stakes stages of the buyer journey where your sales team is currently stalling because they have nothing to send.
The Framework
This audit maps your existing content against the psychological state of your three key decision-makers.
| Stage | Buyer State of Mind | IT Lead (CTO) | Business Lead (CFO) | Ops/Procurement |
| Awareness | “I have a problem but no name for it.” | Blogs, Whitepapers | Trend Reports | Common Gap |
| Consideration | “I’m comparing build vs. buy.” | Architecture Docs | Solution Overviews | Vendor Comparisons |
| Decision | “I need to prove this won’t fail.” | The Gap | The Gap | SLA & Security FAQs |
| Post-Sale | “Help me show ROI to my boss.” | Technical Docs | ROI Summaries | Common Gap |
Identifying Your “Content Deserts”
A Content Desert occurs when a buyer moves from curiosity to commitment, but finds no resources to validate their choice.
- The Technical Desert: Your CTO lead wants to see the “how,” but all you have is “why.”
- The Economic Desert: Your CFO lead wants to see the “return,” but all you have is “features.”
- The Risk Desert: Procurement wants to see “stability,” but you only have “innovation.”
How to Deploy the Maze Map
- Inventory Your Assets: Place your current links into the grid. Be honest—if a PDF is five years old, it’s a gap.
- Locate the Friction: Any empty cell in the Decision or Consideration phase is where your deals are currently dying.
- Prioritize the Bottom-Up: Do not create more “Awareness” content if your “Decision” stage is empty. Fix the leaks where the money is closest to the table.
Why This Works
Unlike standard marketing funnels, the Maze Map recognizes that an IT sale is a consensus-driven process. It ensures you aren’t just talking to the architect, but providing the CFO and Procurement lead with the specific ammunition they need to say “Yes.”
Use our IT Maze Map Worksheet to visualize your content library and identify exactly where you are losing momentum.
Get the template and start your audit today. It includes:
- A blank, ready-to-fill grid for your team.
- A “Content Quality” checklist for each persona.
- A prioritization matrix to help you decide which gap to fill first.
- Quick Reference Asset Ideas
- The “Ideal State” Worksheet (Cybersecurity example)
Stop guessing what content to create. Start filling the deserts.